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Royals Sign Carlos Estévez

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The Royals and right-hander Carlos Estévez are in agreement on a two-year deal that comes with a club option for 2027. It’s reportedly a $22MM guarantee for the Premier Talent Sports and Entertainment client, which includes a $2MM buyout on the option valued at $13MM. If the Royals exercise the option, the deal would reach $33MM over three seasons. The Royals designated Braden Shewmake for assignment in a corresponding move.

Estévez, 32, spent the first six seasons of his career with the Rockies. Pitching in Coors Field may have masked his talents, as he generally had good strikeout and walk rates but middling run prevention numbers. From 2019 to 2022, his final four seasons in Colorado, he tossed 214 2/3 innings with a 4.28 earned run average, 23.9% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate.

Getting away from the mountains has been good for his bottom-line numbers. He signed a two-year, $13.5MM deal with the Angels going into 2023, then was traded to the Phillies at the 2024 deadline. Over those two years, he threw 117 1/3 innings with a 3.22 ERA, 26% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate. He has become a bonafide closer in that time as well, racking up 31 saves in 2023 and 26 last year.

His 2024 season was his best yet, in a sense, as his 2.45 ERA was a personal low. However, there was some concern with how he finished. He struck out 25.8% of batters faced with the Angels but just 20.5% of opponents after being flipped to Philadelphia. But that was despite his velocity increasing as the season went along. He also got more ground balls after the deal, with a 25.3% rate as an Angel last year compared to a 43.5% rate with the Phils. In the end, he still managed to have a tidy 2.57 ERA with Philly, racking up six saves.

At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Estévez for a three-year, $27MM deal. It seems the righty has been limited to a slightly lesser guarantee over two years, though he will end up beating that projection if the option is ultimately picked up.

The Royals had a strong rotation last year but their bullpen was less impressive. Their relievers had a collective 4.13 ERA last year, which placed them 20th out of the 30 clubs in the league. They tried to address that at the deadline by adding Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey in separate trades. Erceg posted a 2.88 ERA for the club after the deal and then had a 3.00 ERA over six postseason appearances as well. The Harvey acquisition didn’t pay immediate dividends, however, as a back injury limited him to just six appearances as a Royal. He is still under club control for 2025, so the Royals will hope for better health this year.

Though Erceg’s performance made the group look stronger, continuing to add this winter makes sense. That’s especially true with Kris Bubic likely moving to the rotation this year. Time will tell whether they have a preferred closer. As mentioned, Estévez has been closing for the past two years. Erceg recorded 11 saves for the Royals after being acquired, plus three more in the playoffs. Regardless of the roles, Estévez strengthens the relief group overall.

The Royals opened last year with a payroll of $115MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. They are projected by RosterResource to be up to $123MM next year, before accounting for Estévez. They have reportedly been looking for a middle-of-the-order bat. Whether they can find one will likely depend on how much farther they are willing to push the spending.

Estévez received plenty of interest from other clubs this offseason, such as the Reds, Tigers, Cubs, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Yankees. Some of those clubs have since made other moves to address their respective bullpens. For clubs still looking to add relievers, the options have been flying off the board lately. Since the start of January, Chris Martin, Andrew Kittredge, Jeff Hoffman, Caleb Ferguson, Jorge López, A.J. Minter, José Leclerc, Tanner Scott, Paul Sewald, Kirby Yates, Ryne Stanek and Tommy Kahnle have agree to deals of $3MM or more. Ryan Pressly and Taylor Rogers were also traded this week.

Free agency still features players such as David Robertson, Kenley Jansen, Andrew Chafin and others, while guys like Robert Suarez, Ryan Helsley or Camilo Doval might be available on the trading block.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the Royals and Estévez had a deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was first with the two-year guarantee and the third-year club option. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported the $22MM guarantee and the $13MM option value.

Brewers, William Contreras Avoid Arbitration

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The Brewers and catcher William Contreras have avoided arbitration, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He and the Brewers have signed a one-year deal with a club option for 2026. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the backstop will make $6MM this year and there’s a $100K buyout on the $12MM option, so he’s guaranteed $6.1MM. He will still be under club control if that club option is eventually turned down.

January 15 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange filing figures. The majority of players agreed to terms with their respective clubs ahead of that deadline but Contreras was one of the 17 that did not. He filed at $6.5MM and the club at $5.6MM. This agreement puts him slightly beyond the midpoint of those two figures. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected the backstop for $7.6MM.

After the filing deadline, teams and players are free to continue negotiating. However, most clubs adopt a “file and trial” policy, meaning that they refuse to negotiate one-year deals after the deadline. It’s quite common to see deals emerge after the deadline but before a hearing, though a club or mutual option will be involved. That’s a technicality since the option means the deal can’t be used as a comparable for future arb cases. That has come to pass in this case.

This is the first of three arbitration chances for Contreras, who is under club control through 2027. His subsequent raises will be based off his base salary in 2025, making this a significant case for player and club. As mentioned, the option is mostly a technicality. Even if the club eventually turns it down, he will still be under club control by the Brewers via arbitration.

Contreras came to the Brewers from Atlanta prior to the 2023 campaign, part of the three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta. In his two seasons in Milwaukee, he has slashed .285/.366/.462 for a wRC+ of 128. His defensive metrics also greatly improved relative to his time in Atlanta. He’s been worth 11.2 wins above replacement over those two campaigns, in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Cardinals Sign Zack Weiss To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced the signing of reliever Zack Weiss to a minor league deal. St. Louis also re-signed righty Victor Santos to a two-year minor league contract. Earlier this week, the Cardinals also announced a non-roster contract with catcher Yohel Pozo.

Weiss is the most notable of the trio. The 32-year-old has pitched in parts of three big league seasons. He tossed a career-high 14 innings between the Red Sox and Angels two seasons ago. Weiss landed with the Twins on a waiver claim last offseason but was outrighted off the 40-man roster without making an MLB appearance. He worked 25 innings with Minnesota’s Triple-A club after clearing waivers. While he posted a middling 5.40 earned run average, he struck out an above-average 26.7% of opposing hitters.

The righty has missed bats in his limited look against MLB competition as well. Weiss has fanned 28% of opponents through 27 1/3 career innings. That has come alongside a lofty 12.7% walk rate, though, contributing to a middling 4.61 ERA. Weiss has allowed 5.37 earned runs per nine in parts of six Triple-A campaigns.

Santos, 24, has yet to reach the major leagues. He was one of two minor league relievers whom the Cards acquired from the Red Sox in what turned out to be the lopsided Tyler O’Neill trade. Santos posted a 5.61 ERA across 77 innings with Triple-A Memphis last year. He’d been pitching in the Dominican Winter League this offseason but seemingly suffered an injury. The Cards announced that he is expected to miss the entire 2025 season, explaining the two-year term of his deal.

Pozo, 27, appeared in 21 MLB games for the Rangers four seasons ago. He hit .284 in 77 plate appearances. Pozo has spent the past two seasons as non-roster depth with the A’s. He hit .324/.335/.538 with 15 homers in an extremely hitter-friendly setting in Triple-A last season. The righty-swinging backstop has one of the most extreme approaches in professional baseball. Among the nearly 1100 minor league hitters who logged at least 300 plate appearances, Pozo had the lowest walk rate (1.9%). His 8.3% strikeout rate was fourth-lowest. No hitter put more balls into play overall.

Orioles Acquire Luis Vazquez, Designate Emmanuel Rivera

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The Cubs have traded infielder Luis Vazquez, whom they designated for assignment earlier in the week, to the Orioles in exchange for cash, the teams announced. Baltimore has designated fellow infielder Emmanuel Rivera for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.

The 25-year-old Vazquez made his big league debut with the Cubs in 2024, though he only appeared in 11 games and went 1-for-12 in a small sample of 14 plate appearances. He hit .263/.347/.432 in Triple-A, about four percent better than average, by measure of wRC+. That marked his second season with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa. He’s posted slightly better-than-average offense in both seasons there while walking at an 11.6% clip against a 22.5% strikeout rate. In 543 plate appearances in Des Moines, he’s popped 17 homers and gone 7-for-12 in stolen base attempts.

Primarily a shortstop, Vazquez ranked 16th among Cubs farmhands at Baseball America just one year ago. BA touted him as the best defensive infielder in the Cubs’ minor league ranks while praising some offensive strides he began to display after years of light hitting in the lower minors. Vazquez has multiple minor league option years remaining and gives the O’s a utility option who can back up at multiple positions or simply be stashed in Norfolk as a depth piece.

Rivera, 28, joined the O’s as an August waiver claim from the Marlins. He logged 73 plate appearances down the stretch with Baltimore and torched opponents with a .313/.370/.578 batting line and four homers. That type of production was largely out of line with Rivera’s career .244/.306/.369 output, however. He’s long been viewed as a glove-first third baseman with modest power and plodding speed. Defensive metrics soured on his glovework at the hot corner in 2024’s 611 innings, but he has above-average marks in overall in 2005 career innings.

Even with that torrid hot streak following his waiver claim, Rivera looked like a non-tender candidate entering the winter. The O’s instead opted to tender him a contract and sign him to a $1MM salary. That salary could now help him pass through waivers if the O’s don’t find a trade partner in the next five days. Rivera is out of options, so any team that acquires or claims him would need to be willing to carry him on the Opening Day roster or else try to pass him through waivers themselves. If Rivera goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would mean forfeiting any guaranteed salary; he’d likely accept the assignment and stick with the O’s while hoping for a call to the majors at some point early in the season.

Diamondbacks Sign Garrett Hampson To Minor League Deal

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Utilityman Garrett Hampson has signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks, per an announcement from the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces. Hampson will be a non-roster invitee in spring training with the Snakes next month.

It could be a homecoming for Hampson, a Nevada native who starred at Reno High School before playing college ball at Long Beach State and going to the Rockies in the third round of the 2016 draft. He’s a veteran of seven big league seasons who spent the 2024 campaign in a utility role with Kansas City.

The Royals signed Hampson to a one-year, $2MM contract last winter and plugged him into a bench role. He appeared in 113 games and tallied 231 plate appearances as a Royal, hitting just .230/.275/.300 along the way. That was a notable drop from a solid 2023 showing in Miami, where Hampson hit .276/.349/.380 in a similar sample of playing time with the Marlins.

Hampson is one of the game’s fastest players, ranking in Statcast’s 99th percentile for sprint speed last year as he covered 29.8 feet per second at top speed. He can play second base, shortstop, third base or any of the three outfield spots. He’s drawn average or better marks at all six spots in his career.

However, Hampson has rarely provided much value in the batter’s box; he’s is a lifetime .240/.301/.362 hitter in 1762 plate appearances despite playing a huge portion of his home games at the hitter-friendly Coors Field. By measure of wRC+, his bat has been 38% worse than average in the majors. He’s been better against lefties (.254/.321/.398, 85 wRC+ in his career), and Hampson touts a lifetime .312/.371/.448 slash in 121 Triple-A games.

Right-handed hitters Blaze Alexander, Grae Kessinger and Tim Tawa are the top utility candidates on the D-backs’ 40-man roster at the moment. Alexander didn’t hit all that well in his rookie season (.247/.321/.343), and Tawa has yet to make his MLB debut. Kessinger was acquired from the Astros after being designated for assignment and has a .141/.243/.213 slash in 70 big league plate appearances. Hampson will provide some non-roster competition for manager Torey Lovullo’s bench mix over the course of spring training.

Padres, Michael King Avoid Arbitration

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The Padres announced Friday that they’ve avoided arbitration with right-hander Michael King, coming to terms on a one-year deal with a mutual option for the 2026 season. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that King will be guaranteed $7.75MM, taking the form of a $3MM signing bonus, just a $1MM salary, and a $3.75MM buyout on a $15MM mutual option. King can boost his guarantee to $8MM, as the contract includes a $50K bonus for reaching 20 starts and bonuses of $100K for reaching 25 and 28 starts. The structure of the deal will perhaps free up a bit of 2025 budget for a payroll-crunched Padres club. King and his reps at Excel Sports Management had filed for an $8.8MM salary. The Padres countered at $7.325MM.

While the arrangement nominally extends the window of control over King, mutual options are at best a technicality; they’re almost never picked up by both sides. The player either outperforms the option value and declines in favor of a trip to free agency, or he underperforms and/or sustains an injury that prompts the team to decline and move on. It’s been more than 10 years since two parties agreed to exercise their end of a mutual option (Matt Belisle, Rockies in Nov. 2013).

Still, by including a mutual option on the contract, the Padres technically stick to the near-leaguewide file-and-trial mantra, wherein teams cut off negotiation on one-year deals once salary figures are exchanged. King’s deal is, of course, a one-year contract — but the presence of the option renders it moot for future arbitration negotiations. Even though there’s virtually no chance of the option being exercised, its mere presence means that King’s agreement cannot be used as a comp (for the Padres or for other clubs) when negotiating contracts with players who are comparable in terms of statistics or service time.

King, 29 (30 in May), was acquired from the Yankees as one of five players in last season’s Juan Soto blockbuster with the Yankees. He’d been primarily a reliever prior to his inclusion in that swap, though a terrific nine-start stretch late in the 2023 season had thrust him into the Yankees’ rotation plans. Instead, he had his first full season as a starter in San Diego rather than the Bronx, and the results were outstanding. In a career-high 173 2/3 frames, King turned in a 2.95 ERA with a 27.7% strikeout rate, an 8.7% walk rate and a 40.4% ground-ball rate. He now sports a 2.91 ERA in his past 392 2/3 innings, spanning the 2021-24 seasons.

As a free agent following the season, King’s name has floated around the rumor circuit for a Padres club that has had payroll questions all offseason. San Diego hopes to contend in 2025, so the only way they’d move King (or rotationmate and fellow pending free agent Dylan Cease) would be if the return included an immediate rotation replacement and additional big league-ready talent. Teams in search of rotation help will continue to inquire, as it seems inevitable that the Padres will eventually make some kind trade to free up payroll space and simultaneously plug some roster holes.

Cubs Agree To Minor League Deal With Brad Keller, Finalizing Deal With Brandon Hughes

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The Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Brad Keller, as first reported by Cubs Insider’s Jacob Zanolla. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee next month. They’re also finalizing a minor league pact to bring left-handed reliever Brandon Hughes back to the organization, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.

Keller, 29, quickly emerged as one of the better Rule 5 picks in recent memory when the Royals plucked him out of the D-backs’ system back in 2017. From 2018-20, he was a productive fixture on Kansas City’s staff, eventually sliding in as a set member of the rotation. In those three seasons, he logged 360 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. Both those marks were worse than league-average, but Keller posted a strong 52.1% grounder rate and proved adept at dodging hard contact and keeping the ball in the park.

In 2021, Keller’s results deteriorated in a hurry. He still made 26 starts and ate up 133 1/3 innings, but his walk and ground-ball rates checked in at career-worst levels as his ERA spiked to 5.39. His ERA in 2022 was again north of 5.00 in a similar sample of innings. By 2023, Keller’s command issues had elevated to calamitous levels. He issued 45 free passes in 45 1/3 innings, doling out a base on balls to 21.3% of his opponents. He was eventually diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and underwent season-ending surgery.

In 2024, Keller split the year between the White Sox and Red Sox. He spent the bulk of his season in Triple-A, where he logged a combined 3.28 earned run average, 21.1% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 54.5% grounder rate between the two organizations. His big league work was much rougher. In 41 1/3 frames, Keller was tagged for a 5.44 ERA with a 16.7% strikeout rate. His walk and ground-ball rates were strong, however, respectively landing at 7.6% and 50%.

Hughes, 29, looked on the cusp of breaking out with the 2022 Cubs. He pitched 16 2/3 shutout innings between Double-A and Triple-A before being called to the majors for 57 2/3 innings of 3.12 ERA ball as a rookie. He was too homer-prone, averaging 1.72 round-trippers per nine frames, but by season’s end he was closing down games for the Cubs, tallying eight saves. He fanned a strong 28.5% of opponents against a solid 8.8% walk rate.

Knee troubles tanked Hughes’ 2023 season, as he pitched only 13 2/3 innings with an ERA north of 7.00. His minor league work was no better, as opponents tagged him for 11 runs in just 11 innings. He underwent a debridement procedure in his left knee that June and was on the injured list until September. The Cubs non-tendered him in November, and he signed a minor league deal in Arizona. Hughes made it back to the majors with the Diamondbacks but clearly wasn’t right. He posted an 8.15 ERA in 17 2/3 big league frames, though his 2.03 earned run average in 48 Triple-A innings creates some more reason for optimism.

Both Keller and Hughes will be in the mix as bullpen depth this spring, though Keller could also serve as depth for the starting staff. The Cubs have added Ryan Pressly and Eli Morgan to the ’pen by way of the trade market this winter and also inked free agent southpaw Caleb Thielbar to a big league deal. That trio will join Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller, Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather and Keegan Thompson as relief candidates. Each of Miller, Merryweather and Thompson is out of minor league options, so they’ll need to make the Opening Day roster or else be traded or designated for assignment (ultimately passing through waivers if they’re to have any chance of being sent to Triple-A). Trevor Richards, Phil Bickford, Ben Heller and Brooks Kriske are among the other veteran arms who’ll be in camp on non-roster deals.

Blue Jays Sign Max Scherzer

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The Blue Jays officially announced their one-year deal with Max Scherzer. The Boras Corporation client reportedly receives a $15.5MM salary with no deferrals and a full no-trade clause.

Scherzer is obviously a legend in the game and a future Hall of Famer. He debuted back in 2008, has almost 3,000 innings in the majors with a 3.16 earned run average, three Cy Young trophies, eight All-Star selections and two World Series rings.

The question is what he has left in the tank at this point. He is now 40 years old and coming off an injury-marred season. He started 2024 on the injured list while recovering from offseason back surgery. Though he recovered from that, he also battled a nerve issue in his hand, shoulder fatigue and a strained hamstring throughout the season. He was limited to just nine starts and 43 1/3 innings.

That obviously creates some concern but Scherzer has been remarkably durable throughout his career. In each full season from 2009 to 2023, he made 27 or more starts and logged at least 145 1/3 innings. From 2013 to 2018, he had six straight seasons of hitting the 200-inning plateau. In short, 2024 was the first season of his career where he missed significant time.

Even though the volume of his output was low, some of the results last year were still decent. He posted a 3.95 earned run average over those nine starts. His 22.6% strikeout rate was a drop for him personally but still around league average, while his 5.6% walk rate was still a very strong mark. His velocity was down as well on his fastball, going from 93.7 miles per hour in 2023 to 92.5 mph last year.

There are obviously some yellow flags in there but it’s of course possible that better health could lead to some better results. It’s a bit of a gamble for the Jays but this is clearly the market rate for a veteran pitcher with some question marks. Each of Justin Verlander, Charlie Morton and Alex Cobb secured one-year deals worth $15MM this offseason. Scherzer symbolically got past that group with an extra half mil.

There are many ways in which Verlander and Scherzer are similar, given their lengthy careers full of accolades. The two have also crossed paths many times, as they were both in the Detroit rotation just over a decade ago, before reuniting with the Mets more recently. Verlander’s 2024 was also injury-marred, though with perhaps some more concerning numbers. His 17 starts and 90 1/3 innings were more than Scherzer managed but Verlander had a 5.48 ERA and his strikeout rate dropped all the way to 18.7%. Verlander is also a bit older, about to turn 42 next month.

Cobb is only 37 but he only managed three starts last year, plus two more in the playoffs, thanks to his own maladies. He also doesn’t quite have the same legendary track record as Scherzer or Verlander. Morton, who is now 41, managed to make 30 starts for Atlanta last year but he seemingly limited his market by having a preference for clubs with spring training sites near his family in Florida.

The Jays have been connected to just about every available free agent this winter. That has included some high-profile position players like Juan Soto, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as starting pitchers like Roki Sasaki, Max Fried and Corbin Burnes. There were obviously some frustrating misses in there, but the club has had a couple of strikes more recently. In the past three weeks, they’ve added Anthony Santander to their lineup, Jeff Hoffman to their bullpen and now Scherzer to the rotation.

While the Jays may have preferred to get one of those other starting pitchers, Scherzer keeps their commitment short. It also gives the club a very veteran rotation core. Kevin Gausman is 34, Chris Bassitt will turn 36 next month and José Berríos will be 31 in May. Those four are sure to be taking the ball with regularity, as long as they’re all healthy.

If Scherzer avoids the injury bug this year, he’ll upgrade the rotation and could perhaps indirectly upgrade the bullpen as well. Prior to this signing, Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodríguez were projected as the top options for the fourth and final spots in the rotation. Even with Scherzer in the fold, Francis will likely still get a rotation spot. After the Jays traded Yusei Kikuchi at the deadline last year, Francis got a rotation audition and ran with it. He finished out the campaign with 59 innings over nine starts with a 1.53 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate and 3.3% walk rate. He still has one minor league option but the Jays would surely like to see if he could carry that forward.

That could push Rodríguez into a relief role, something he has done with success before. Last year was his first in the majors and he made 21 starts with decent results. He had a 4.47 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. But prior to signing with the Jays, he was a dominant closer in Japan. In 2022, he made 56 appearances for the Chunichi Dragons with a 1.15 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. He sat out 2023 while attempting to be declared a free agent.

Going into last year, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported that Rodríguez’s contract stipulated he could only be optioned for the 2024 season. The Blue Jays did indeed option him a few times last year but it seems they won’t be able to do so from now on, so perhaps he’ll end up in the bullpen instead. He could compete for a leverage role alongside Hoffman, Yimi García, Chad Green and Erik Swanson.

That would subtract from the rotation depth a bit, but the Jays have a few more options there than they did last year. They added Jake Bloss, who already has a bit of Triple-A and MLB experience, in the aforementioned Kikuchi deal. Adam Macko is on the 40-man roster and should be in Triple-A this year after spending most of 2024 in Double-A. Alek Manoah had internal brace surgery in June and could make a late-season return. Since Scherzer is one a one-year deal and Bassitt is going into the final year of his pact, there are long-term openings for that group if any of them have a good showing in 2025.

RosterResource now sets the club’s payroll at $250MM and and their competitive balance tax number at $273MM. That puts them already well beyond last year’s Opening Day payroll, which Cot’s Baseball Contracts put at $225MM. Their CBT number was over the line in 2024 but they ducked under when their disappointing season lead to a deadline selloff, so they will go into 2025 as “first-time” payors. They are now within striking distance of the third CBT line, which will be $281MM next year. Going over that marker this year would mean their top pick in the 2026 draft would be pushed back 10 spots.

Despite running those numbers up to new heights, it doesn’t appear they are done. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Jays are still interested in Pete Alonso if he doesn’t circle back to the Mets while Keegan Matheson of MLB.com also suggests they should still have some flexibility. Maybe the Jays will add Alonso or someone else, or finally get an extension done with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It’s been a long, frustrating winter for Jays fans but a lot has changed in the past few weeks, perhaps with more to come. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in about two weeks.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Scherzer was headed to the Jays. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that it was a one-year deal. Heyman then reported the $15.5MM guarantee. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet first had the lack of deferrals. Heyman had the no-trade clause.

Reds To Sign Joe La Sorsa To Minor League Deal

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The Reds and left-hander Joe La Sorsa are in agreement on a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. The southpaw will make the league minimum $780K in the majors and $180K in the minors.

La Sorsa, 27 in April, had a very brief stay on the open market. The Nationals designated him for assignment and then put him on release waivers. The report of this deal came out less than two hours after the announcement that he had cleared waivers and become a free agent.

He has thrown 50 1/3 innings in the majors over the last two years, allowing 4.47 earned runs per nine. His 19.2% strikeout rate has been subpar but his 6.4% walk rate a couple of ticks better than average. He has done a decent job of limiting damage in that sample, with Statcast having his average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate all a bit better than the rest of the league.

His minor league production has mostly been similar to that major league work. Over 2023 and 2024, he logged 92 2/3 innings on the farm with a 2.82 ERA, 18% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate. His 2022 numbers were a bit more unique. He logged 73 1/3 minor league innings over 40 appearances that year with a 2.33 ERA, 31.4% strikeout rate and 3.6% walk rate.

Even if he can’t get those huge strikeout numbers back, he can perhaps be useful on account of his strong control and ability to stay off barrels. The Reds project to have three lefties in their bullpen, including recent trade acquisition Taylor Rogers as well as Brent Suter and Sam Moll, though there’s nothing wrong with more depth. If La Sorsa gets added to Cincinnati’s roster at any point, he has a couple of option years and less than a year of service time, meaning he can potentially provide cheap depth with roster flexibility.

Rays Sign Jonathan Hernandez To Minor League Deal

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The Rays announced their list of non-roster invitees to MLB camp. Reliever Jonathan Hernández signed a minor league deal today and will be in big league Spring Training. He’d elected free agency at the start of the offseason.

Hernández, 28, joins the third organization of his career. He’d been a career-long member of the Rangers until last summer. Hernández signed with Texas as an amateur free agent and got to the big leagues in 2019. He had a strong showing in the shortened 2020 season, working to a 2.90 earned run average over 31 innings. An elbow injury required Tommy John surgery early the following year.

That kept Hernández out of action into the second half in 2022. He returned to post a 2.97 ERA through 30 1/3 frames, picking up his four career saves along the way. Hernández’s strikeout and walk rates were underwhelming, which proved a precursor for regression in the coming seasons. He has allowed 5.40 earned runs per nine in each of the last two years.

Texas pushed Hernández off the roster at last year’s trade deadline. He carried a 5.05 ERA over a career-high 41 innings at the time. The Mariners claimed him off waivers. Hernández allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings with Seattle before the M’s designated him for assignment. He cleared waivers that time around and spent the rest of the season in Triple-A.

Since the start of 2023, Hernández owns a 5.40 ERA across 75 frames. His 21.5% strikeout percentage is slightly below average, while he has walked nearly 13% of batters faced. Hernández has kept the ball on the ground on half the batted balls he has allowed, though. He averages nearly 97 MPH on his sinker but hasn’t found success with that pitch; opponents have respectively hit .350 and .323 against it over the past two seasons. Hernández has fared a lot better with his slider, which he uses roughly half the time, and his infrequently deployed changeup.

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